The invention relates generally to a system for controlling devices within an industrial automation system. More particularly, embodiments of the present disclosure relate to emergency stop systems used in industrial automation systems.
Industrial automation systems are known for automating industrial processes. For example, industrial automation systems have been used for material handling, robotics, airport baggage handling, water and wastewater treatment, cement production, semiconductor fabrication, electric power, entertainment, food processing, mining, beverage and packaging operations, ski lift operations, forest products processing, life sciences, logistic processes, fibers and textiles processing, metal forming, automotive, petroleum and chemical processing, plastics processing, automated transportation, health care, agriculture, postal and shipping, and other manufacturing processes, to name but a few examples.
Accordingly, an industrial automation system may include components, such as controllers, automation devices, actuators, and sensors, often interconnected by one or more networks. In addition, certain of the operations of at least some of these components in the industrial automation system may be immediately terminated by an emergency stop (E-Stop) system. The E-Stop system may include one or more E-Stop buttons connected to an E-Stop network, and positioned such that operators may easily access them when needed. The E-Stop system may be configured to immediately terminate operations of components in the industrial automation system when the E-Stop button is actuated/activated. Because there may be more than one E-Stop button in the E-Stop system, to facilitate identifying which E-Stop button was actuated, the E-Stop button may be configured to illuminate green to indicate that it has been actuated/activated.
In addition, in some E-Stop systems, the E-Stop button or a device on which the button is provided may be removable from the industrial automation system, such as by unplugging a tether, removing or cutting a cord, or moving out of a working range of a network node. When such communication is interrupted, the emergency stop functionality of the device and the associated E-stop button may be no longer operational, although conventional systems may not alert the operators to this fact. Accordingly, it may be beneficial to configure the E-Stop system to indicate when the E-Stop button is operational (i.e., capable of immediately terminating operations of components in the industrial automation system if actuated/activated).